Eke market day and its significance in Igbo Land.

In Igbo culture, there are four days in a week; namely, Nkwo, Eke, Afo, and Orie. Just as there are four types of week days. 

Afo means the formative market day. Orie is the day before Afo, as such, is the day farm produce are made ready for the market day. In Igbo land, the most important farm produce is the yam. This produce is stored in a barn after harvest and kept for storage either to be sold on the Afo market day or replanted   during the next planting season. This topic is however not the purpose of this expose.   Nkwo is a market day with a mill importance. Suffix me to say that, It is ordinary market day. 

 The most sagacious of all these market days is the Eke market day. It is considered significant because it signifies a lot of meaning, of which bad omen,

is the most pronounced. It is regarded as the least favoured day in most Igbo communities.  Activities are also constricted outside this day as a severance day. For example, it is not wise to organize a marriage proposal on this day. It is also not approving to bury one on Eke market day or attend any festive ceremony for that matter.  

Eke market day is regarded as dangerous, as such everyone is expected to be careful on this day. The Eke market day is associated with Eke, the python. Hence, it is called, Eke, pronounced Eke-e.  Ibos also refer to the creator as, Eke. The creator. What this means, is that in Igbo land. A word can have different meaning depending on the context of discussion.

Source; Nigerian Online Blog.

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